Nether garment for supporting sanitary napkins and the like



May '12, 1953 M. S. SMYTHE NETHER GARMENT FOR SUPPORTING SANITARYNAPKINS'AND THE LIKE Filed May 5, 1951 Patented May 12, 1953 NETHERGARMENT FOR SUPPORTING SANITARY NAPKINS AND THE LIKE Marion s. Smythe,Memphis, Tenn.

Application May 5, 1951, Serial No. 224,713

and which will be readily and simply changeable for the purpose ofpromoting the cleanliness, particularly of patients of the group justmentioned.

The principal object of the invention is to pro vide a simple garmentwhich is readily adaptable to the bodies of persons of various sizes andwhich is constructed and fabricated to accommodate itself to changesinposition of such wearer and to retain a surgical or sanitary napkin orpad in use position. t

A further object of the invention is to provide a nether garment formedof fabric in which the body of the garment is cut on the bias of thefabric and the edge portions of the garment are 1 disposed, angularly,the one to the other, with none of the edges in parallelism to the weaveof the fabric.

And a further object of the invention is to provide a simple and usefulnether garment for supporting sanitary napkins and the like.

The means by which the foregoing and other objects of the presentinvention are accomplished and the manner of their accomplishment willreadily be understood from the following specification upon reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the garment of this invention in extendedposition.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the garment folded and secured into userelation; and

Fig. 3 is a front view on a slightly reduced scale illustrating thegarment in use.

Referring now to the drawings in which the various parts are indicatedby numerals, the garment of the present invention is formed of fabricand in the fabrication of the garment the body portion is cut out on abias to the weave of the fabric, which is indicated at II. From thebiascut fabric the garment is formed having opposite ends l3, l5, therespective ends l3, [5 being slightly concaved so that the outer ends ofend l3 are further from the outer ends of end l'5 than the distancespacing the centers of the respective ends.

1 Claim. (01. 128-284) Intersecting end l3 are sides ll, I8, it beingobserved that the sides I1, is are substantially perpendicular to end [3at their points of intersection and that by reason of the curve of endIS the ends of sides ll, I8 remote from end I3 are flared apart, beingspaced further apart laterally than the spacing of the points ofintersection with end 13. Sides I9, 29 are similarly arranged withrespect to the opposite end l5 and, like sides 5 2, l8, diverge awayfrom end l5. It thus will be seen that the garment includes opposite endportions 2!, 22 which are formed with a curved ter-- minal edge andwhich respectively spread away from the terminal edge, each being thussubstantially formed as the frustum of a triangle.

Joining end portions 2|, 22is an intermediate portion 23 which isbounded on its opposite sides by arcuate intermediate edges 24, 25; Edge24 extends from-the end of side H to the end of side Hi and edge 25similarly extends from. the end of side IE! to the end of sideZEl. Byvirtue of the arcuate formation of the intermediate sides, intermediatebody portion 23- narrows from the maximum width of the garment, thespacing between sides 1'! and E8, to the minimum width of the garment ata point substantially at the transverse middle line of the garment andwidens to a similar maximum width at the maximum spacing between theends of sides I9, 2 0. -In the preferred formation of. the garment thefabric is first cut on a bias of substantially fortyfive degrees to theWarp and woof of the weave H, and it will be seen that each of the sidesll, 18, l 9, and 26, is disposed out of parallelism with the warp andwoof of the weave, and are thus disposed at a bias different from theoriginal bias of cut of the fabric. In addition the curved ends 13, it,by virtue of the curve, are not in parallelism with any portion of theweave and similarly the intermediate edges 24, 25, by virtue of theirarcuate formation are not in parallelism with any portion of the weave.

Adjacent the opposite points of maximum width of the garment, a pair oflongitudinally spaced anchor loops or tabs 26, 21 are fastened to theintermediate portion of the body of the garment and are adapted toreceive and removably retain the ends of a pad or napkin 28, bein sopositioned that the pad or napkin extends along the intermediate bodyportion substantially from end to end of such intermediate portion.Flexible tie members 29 are attached to the sides ll, It, I9, 28 of thegarment respectively at the intersections of the sides H with the endsI3, [5, and with the intermediate edges 24, 25.

In use of the garment fabricated as just described, it is folded intogarment shape, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, being folded so that edges 13and I5 become the upper edges of the garment and the garment may besecured in such position by the interengagement of ties 29. Inasmuch asthe ties are flexible and are of suflicient length it is apparent thatthe garment may be suitably fitted to bodies of various sizes, utilizingthe ties as adjustment portions for such fittings. When so foldedintermediate edges 25, 25 sub stantially join to form leg openings,intermediate portion 23 is disposed as a crotch portion, and endportions 2i, 22, become the rear and front portions of the assembledgarment. 'Sides [8 and 26, and sides I! and I9 are respectively broughtinto substantial parallelism and the taper of end portions 2!, 22,provided by the divergence of the sides away from the ends isparticularly adapted to accommodate the natural enlargement of the humanbody downward from the waist. in addition ends it, 15, cooperate .toprovide a waist band for thegarment, which by virtue of the curve of theends when assembled,

higher at the sides than centrally at front and rear, thus morenaturally accommodating the garment to the human body by fitting abovethe protuberances of the hips and following natural body nontoursbetween the hips. The arrangement of the garment, with the respectiveedges angularly intersecting the warp and woof of the weave of thefabric, enables the garment to readily yield'to changes of position,whichis particularly useful in connection "with use=of theg-arment ofthis invention upon bed patients such as paraplegics and the like.

It is apparent that when pad or napkin 28 has become soiled the garment.may be readily removed and the pad adiscarded with replacement:b'eing'very simply available.

Preferably each of the edges is bound, as .indicated 'on the drawings,with :a suitable tape to affordafinishforithe respectiveiedges.

A nether garment adapted to retain and support a sanitary napkincomprising a bias :cut 'fab'ric body iol'dable from extended position touse ipdstti'on, :said body in extended position having an intermediateportion aformed "with Opp edgesn'eeply 'curving arcuately:intmproximityadjacent the transverse midline of said body to form a narrow crotchportion for receiving a said napkin, said intermediate edges oppositelycurving outwardly from said crotch portion, intermediate tie memberssecured to and extendin away from the opposite ends of said intermediateedges, said intermediate tie members forming continuations of saidcurved intermediate edges in unfolded condition of said garment,opposite end portions extending from theends of said intermediateportion, the side edges of said end portions respectively angularlyintersecting the ends of said curved intermediate edges, the op- ;positesides of each end portion extending convergingly from said intersectionsto taper said end portions, each said end portion having a curved endedge extending between the ends of said converging sides, end tiemembers fixed to and extending away from said curved end edges, said endtie members forming continuations of said curved. end :edges, and a pairof longitudireally spaced napkins engaging anchor tabs fixed to andextending transversely of :said intermediate portion, said end portionson folding of said body being positioned as the front and rear portionsof said garment with said end edges .400- operating .to form :a Waistband 'theref or, the taper of said end sections accommodating theenlargement of a wearers :body and the curve of said end edgesdistributing stresses to the Weave 13f said fabric, said intermediatetie members bein adapted Sior inter-engagement upon folding :of saidbody and when inter-engaged transferring .nse stresses along said:curved intermediate edges.

JMEsRION 5S. .SMYTII-IE.

References Cited the file of this patent UNITED i'STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,195,904 ,Bornstein Aug. 22,, 1916 1,684 346 .Smith Sept. ll,i923 393,822 iMeggs .Jan. 10, I9 0 ,2,513,6.l8 Bellum. July 4, 1950FOREIGN EP-ATENTS Number Country Date 616,419 Great Britain J an. 2Q,1.9 9

